The Washington Capitals hit the road for the first time since returning from the bye week as they take on Metropolitan Division rival Columbus Blue Jackets for their second game of their back to back, and first game of their six game road trip. The Capitals are coming off a 6-4 win last night over the Los Angeles Kings.

The last time these two teams faced off the Blue Jackets would win in overtime and mock Evgeny Kuznetsov’s “Bird” celebration. The motivation is there, as well as the fire in this rivalry.

Washington Capitals:

Projected Lineup:

Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

Jakub Vrana — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

Andre Burakovsky — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly

Chandler Stephenson — Nic Dowd — Devante Smith-Pelly

Michal Kempny — John Carlson

Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen

Brooks Orpik — Christian Djoos

Braden Holtby

Pheonix Copley

Scratched: Madison Bowey, Dmitrij Jaskin, Travis Boyd

Keys to the Game:

1. Be consistent all 60 minutes

The Capitals need to be consistent for a full 60 minutes if they look to defeat the Blue Jackets. If the Capitals can continue a steady pace throughout, they will have a legitimate chance of winning.

Columbus Blue Jackets:

Projected Lineup:

Artemi Panarin — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Cam Atkinson

Nick Foligno — Boone Jenner — Josh Anderson

Anthony Duclair — Alexander Wennberg — Oliver Bjorkstrand

Markus Hannikainen — Riley Nash — Lukas Sedlak

Seth Jones — Ryan Murray

Zach Werenski — David Savard

Scott Harrington — Markus Nutivaara

Sergei Bobrovsky

Joonas Korpisalo

Scratched: Dean Kukan, Eric Robinson

Injured: Brandon Dubinsky (hip)

Keys to the Game:

1. Rattle the Capitals

The Blue Jackets mocked Evgeny Kuznetsov last time these two teams faced with hopes of rattling the team, but to no affect. An early lead though, that can rattle the Capitals.